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Saturday, April 09, 2011

Blueberry Macarons with Coconut & White Chocolate

Another macaron variation! I found these to be particularly delicious, probably because of the filling which was just.. yum. I happened to have white chocolate with coconut in it, which was way too sweet to eat on its own, but it works here. If you can't find that chocolate, you can just use regular white chocolate, and add, perhaps 3-4 tablespoons, of lightly toasted coconut flakes.

Combine powdered sugar, blueberry powder and almonds in your food processor, and grind until very fine. Sieve. Re-grind any lumps or big pieces of almonds. Mix carefully (they tend to separate a little bit when sieving, since the sugar falls through first.)

Beat egg whites and sugar until you have a thick, glossy meringue. Don't overbeat. Stir in the almond-sugar powder, and fold together. Don't overmix this - most seem to say that you should use less than 50 strokes. (You can try it by dolloping a little batter on a baking sheet - if the peak falls down, it's ready. If it doesn't, try a few more strokes.)

Pipe small rounds on a baking sheet with baking paper. Leave at room temperature for 30-60 minutes, to form a skin.

Bake at 150°C for about 10 minutes. (I have a convection oven.) Let them cool completely before filling. Unused shells can be frozen, or kept in an air-tight container for a day or so.